Comprehensive Guide to Guitar Maintenance

The shiny metallic and aerodynamic look of an electric guitar is appealing to all but there is a lot of exercise involved in keeping the guitar look shining and clean. Guitar maintenance is not just another process; it is the process that will help in increasing the playing life of your guitar.

The primary and foremost aspect of guitar maintenance is cleaning. If you have a guitar then you need to clean it on a regular basis. This will ensure that your guitar strings don’t slack and you can play it for a longer period of time. There are different cleaning methods for the acoustic and electric guitars. Acoustic guitar is made from wood and hence you need to be extremely careful regarding the type of polish you use for cleaning.

Here is our list of guitar cleaning and maintenance suggestions:

Avoid water: While cleaning your acoustic guitar, you can use a damp cloth or even chamois for polishing the body of the guitar but avoid using too much of water as it can get soaked in by the wood, which will eventually damage the guitar and distort the sound.

Fretboard and strings: The fretboard and the strings complement each other and are used the most.

While cleaning the fretboard or the fingerboard, use fine steel wool. You can wipe the fretboard lightly using the fine steel wool and gently remove oil blotches attributed mostly to sweat. The point is that there are some people who sweat more than other and hence while playing the sweat might drip down and fall anywhere on the guitar. Sweating fingers can add oil & water to the fingerboard and strings. So the ideal thing to do is to wipe the strings clean after every playing session to avoid oxidation. You can also purchase guitar maintenance kits but read the instructions before starting to use them for cleaning.

As for the strings, you need to wipe them after every session because strings attract dirt and once the dirt builds up, it will damage your strings. This dirt can also get transferred to the fretboard and accumulate near the frets. Once you have wiped clean your guitar strings, use a soft cloth to clean all the gaps between the strings on the fingerboard. There are times when the grime might get accumulated on your fingerboard. In such a scenario, scrape it off using a plastic radius gauge.

And most importantly, if you are not playing your guitar then keep it in the guitar box or case.

Tuning Keys: The tuning keys are basically knobs, which are situated on your guitars headstock. The keys are using for tuning each of the six strings on your guitar. The older the guitar gets, the more lubrication the tuning keys will require. So it is advisable to keep lubricating them from time to time.

Frets: The frets form another integral part of your guitar. Since they are used the most, the chance of wearing and tearing is much higher. You will hence have to dress up your frets occasionally depending on how often you play. You will notice over a period of time that the due to pressing and bending of strings on the fret, it gets worn out and this can cause intonation problems. It is always advisable to let a professional repairman dress your fret. Unless you have the experience, it is best advised not to try your hand at fret filing.

Nut: The nut is an integral part of guitar playing because it is responsible for your guitar’s tone. The nut ensures that your guitar stays in tune. Hence it is important to lubricate the nut slots well with soap.

Bridge: You need to lubricate the bridge slots more often with soap. Try to do it before you start playing.

Body: The guitar body will accumulate a lot of dust, sweat and dirt over a period of time. You can use a soft cloth to clean it but make sure that you fog it first and then gently wipe the area.

Always remember, the cleaner your guitar is the better it will sound for a long time to come!

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